The Green Party candidates, left to right: Dorothy Paige ( City Council ), Lori Thomas ( School Board ), Drew Langdon ( City Council ), David Atias ( City Council ).

Ordinarily, election years for purely city offices in Rochester tend to be rather tawdry affairs.

That’s the way it goes in a one-party town.

In Rochester’s Democratically monopolized Citygov and School Board, the incumbents continually seek re-election, citing the “wonderful work” they have done to “turn the city around,” even when it’s patently obvious that they have done no such thing.

Any opposition to the Democratic incumbents has to come from within their own party.

Usually, there is a surfeit of such Democratic opposition to the incumbents, arguing that they can do a better job of governing the city.

That might be true enough…during campaign season.

But for no good, sane reason, incumbents are re-elected to office despite their failures, while the voters then scratch their heads and wonder how they got back in!

It’s simple enough: they were voted back in by the same people who criticize them!

Being in good with the party machine always helps incumbents, no matter how badly they have performed in office. And their fellow Democrats who dared to run against them? Well, they are seen as “black sheep.”

Unfortunately, this is usually the only form of dissent in our one-party town, and it isn’t appreciated by the incumbents.

And, frankly, how much experience does it take for City Councilmen to rubber stamp the current mayor’s wishes?

As for the School Board, for years they have presided over the disintegration of the Rochester City School District with no real improvements in sight, despite the claims of this year’s crop of incumbents seeking re-election, claiming that they are finally on the right track.

Where have they been all these years?

And the Republicans? They have long since abdicated as one of the two “great political parties” in Rochester. Recently, whenever some brave individuals seeking to change the city under the Republican line have sought elective office in Rochester, they have done so at their own peril, without the support of their party’s machine.

To date, for the 2013 Election, we have a Democratic incumbent mayor ( Tom Richards ) being challenged by the Democratic City Council President the Honorable Lovely A. Warren, Esquire.

Green Party candidate for mayor Alex White: "This slate of Green Party candidates will give Rochester an option not seen in years!"

Alex White, long a fixture in Rochester politics and one of the severest critics of one-party rule here, is the Green Party’s candidate for the mayoral throne.

Despite the fact that Monroe County GOP Chairman Bill Reilich stated that the Republicans would be running a candidate for mayor ( to TV 8 News on March 22 ), and that he would make the candidate’s identity public within 60 days, there has been no news from that quarter yet.

Tick, tick, tick…

As I have already stated, there are numerous Democratic challengers to the Democratic incumbents seeking re-election to City Council and the School Board. While the Democratic machine has made short work of them in the endorsement process, there will still be a Democratic primary for those offices in September.

This, too, is usual.

However, today ( May 1 ) in front of City Hall, the Green Party announced its slate of candidates for City Council and the School Board: for City council, David Atias, Drew Langdon and Dorothy Paige; for School Board, Lori Thomas.

All of these candidates have been actively involved in Rochester for years, whether it be in business, education or social work.

Today, the Green Party candidates expressed their unanimous frustration with Citygov, of how the Democratic monopoly in Citygov has failed Rochester, of how Citygov is incapable of instituting change because there is no real reason for them to do so.

The status quo suits the Democratic incumbents just fine!

Alex White, the Green Party’s candidate for mayor, stated that he was delighted to be standing with a whole group of Green Party candidates, rather than running alone.

Furthermore, Alex said “These candidates will give Rochester an option not seen in years!”

That’s true enough; Monroe County GOP Chairman Bill Reilich hasn’t announced that there will be Republican candidates for any of the five City Council seats or the three School Board seats up for grabs.

Furthermore, the three Green Party candidates for City Council stated that they would NOT be mere rubber stamps for the mayor, whoever he or she turns out to be. Even Alex.

Nor would they seek to pass legislation which has been found to be illegal and unconstitutional, as has been the repeated habit of City Council.

Pro small business, pro “green friendly” solutions to city living, pro-neighborhoods. That is what they support.

And Lori Thomas?

Having been a teacher at Lincoln School#22, she is upset with the practice of corporate education that is prevalent in the Rochester City School District that does NOT concentrate on our children. Lori is also in favor of a return to neighborhood schools.

More information about the Green Party candidates can be found on Green Rochester’s website: www.greenrochester.org .

The Green Party is at least providing an alternative to one-party rule in Rochester. It behooves us, as presumably well-informed citizens, to at least listen to what they have to say and offer.

And the definition of stupid: doing the same failed things over and over and over again, expecting a different outcome each time.

The choice is the voters’.

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Contributors

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Rich Gardner has been writing about the history, culture and waterways of Upstate New York for years. His articles have appeared in U.S. and Canadian publications, and one book, Learning to Walk. He is an alumnus of Brighton High School and SUNY Geneseo. He operates Upstate Resume & Writing Service in Brighton and recently moved to Corn Hill, where he is already involved in community projects. "I enjoy the 'Aha!' moments of learning new things, conceptual and literal. City living is a great teacher."

Ken Warner grew up in Brockport and first experienced Rochester as a messenger boy for a law firm in Midtown Tower. He recently moved downtown into a loft on the 13th floor of the Temple Building with a view of the Liberty Poll and works in the Powers Building overlooking Rochester’s four corners as Executive Director for UNICON, an organization devoted to bringing economic development to the community. He hopes to use his Rochester Blog to share his observations from these unique views of downtown.